Hello friends,
Has it really been only one week since the schools closed and many of us took up our position as Head of the School of Mum and Dad?
(Yes, my badge is on the post too.)
Seems unfathomable. If, like me, you feel these first few days have been a struggle, I’ve set down a few simple tips on how parents can stay home and stay sane in my latest blog. Parents have masses of wonderful resources from schools – all age appropriate; all written by experts and aimed exactly at your child – so we are going to try to bring you some real world, straightforward ideas to help you cope in your new-found classroom. Then, one day, coping will be the chrysalis from which we emerge and thrive. Stick with us and we’ll do all we can to help and support at this exceptional time.
This too shall pass, and, as a gentle reminder, I've opened this newsletter with the beautiful illustration by the wonderful artist Charles Mackesy.
I know there are so many posts, pictures and pieces of advice doing the rounds at the moment. Personally, I’m feeling like WhatsApp, while a lifeline in some ways, has transformed from a basic mobile phone application to some kind of death by a 1000s cuts. Ping. Ping. Ping. Every... Few... Minutes. Don’t be afraid to get finger happy with the mute function if you are feeling overwhelmed. Our worlds have shrunk beyond recognition and we have to be very careful who we allow in. Social distancing is a matter of life and death but social media distancing may save our sanity.
And as for coronavirus being a great leveller; I’m not so sure. Madonna may have sat in a petal-strewn bath to tell us the virus has “made us all equal in many ways” but yesterday I saw a post on Facebook by a mother who said goodbye to her two young children for the foreseeable future. She is an A&E doctor and working at the front line. She vowed not to return home and see her babies until this was all over. No, Madonna, she's not like you or me.
That said, it’s incredibly important that we hone in on happier thoughts when we possibly can. Another post I saw said: ‘My parents have told me to work hard at school all my life so I don’t end up stacking shelves. Now the shelf-stackers are the heroes.’ Yes, the NHS staff wholly deserved the national cheer last night – which, by the way, I think we should make weekly in the current crisis – but the supermarket workers, the bin men, the water supply staff... they are shaking off their cloaks of invisibility in society and this can only be a good thing.
So, as we head into a weekend like no other, I hope you can find rest in two days that are now only really distinguished by their slightly different names. Some of you have children whose Easter Holidays would have started today. Does that mean pencil cases down and home school is closed in favour of chocolate and Xbox? As a mum, I’m not sure how to handle that new scenario in a new scenario. If our kids are, in general, doing vastly less, can they take two weeks off? I’ll be asking some teachers and school leaders for a blog I’ll add to School Guide next week.
Until then, may you stay safe and well.
Victoria
Mum and Founder, School Guide
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